Circle of Hope
by tothemoon1
Summary: A young forensic scientist finds herself tangled in Bane's "plan." With the help of frustratingly attractive Officer John Blake, can she get herself out of the mess she's in? Maybe... But only if she and Blake manage to stop fighting for fifteen seconds. John Blake/OC.
1. Chapter 1

It was 10:02 on a Friday night and Hailey Baffert was already pretty buzzed-just not for the reasons one would typically think. No, she wasn't at one of Gotham's hottest clubs or even some dive bar in the Narrows, she was sitting cross-legged in front of her closet attempting to come to terms with how out of touch with the world she'd become.

At least the bottle of wine was helping.

_"What do normal, 26 year old women wear for a night out on the town? Do they put makeup on? Okay, well obviously they put makeup on, but what does that entail? Eyeshadow? I could probably accomplish that but wait...I'm guessing they use blush...Do I even own blush? Maybe I could just slap myself around a little? Or would that do more harm than good?" _As she pondered over these deeply philosophical thoughts, she made the mistake of glancing at her bedside clock.

_"Holy shit it's 10:15 already?! Amanda's gonna kill -" _ and without missing a beat there came a loud knock on her apartment door.

"Hailey Elizabeth Baffert I swear to God you'd better answer this door within the next twenty seconds or I'm kicking it in!" her sometimes-close friend but often-mortal enemy shouted.

Hailey instinctually began to analyze her current situation in the most objective way possible - a habit she had developed from working as a forensic scientist in GCPD's criminalistics lab. She glanced to her right and noted the half-empty bottle of pinot grigio resting in her hand, looked down at her outfit and realized she was still wearing boy shorts and a tank top, then reached up to feel her hair only to remember it was still in a messy bun. After taking a couple seconds to absorb this information, she finally came to the logical conclusion that she was, indeed, totally screwed.

With a sigh she clumsily got up from her sitting position and took another swig from the wine bottle as she walked over to answer the door. Right as Hailey opened it a red-faced Amanda had been readying herself into a kicking position.

"Jesus, you really were serious about kicking the door in," Hailey noted with an appreciative smile, remembering for a second why she was friends with this girl.

Amanda completely ignored her friend's comment and stormed into the apartment. "I would say 'hi' and hug you right now Hailey but I'm way too busy noticing that you look like the poster child for 'single-girl-in-her-twenties' when you should be dressed and ready to come out with us! What the hell?! Brandon and Dave are waiting in the car downstairs! I should have known better than to trust you to get yourself ready!" She then sniffed Hailey's breath and immediately jumped back a few feet. "Whoa there tiger, smells like you are about 40% sauced right now. Give me that!" And with that she yanked the bottle of wine out of her friend's hand, paused for a moment, then took a long swig herself before running to the kitchen and throwing it in the fridge.

Hailey stood awkwardly in her small living room as Amanda walked back. She knew her childhood friend exaggerated a lot, but at the same time she also felt bad for being so socially inept. Amanda had been planning this little double date for the past two weeks, giving Hailey plenty of time to warm up to the idea and prepare herself for a night out (which had become few far between these last couple years), but at the last minute - as usual - she choked. It was so typical of her. Over the years her life had started to revolve around work so heavily that instead of getting excited about these things, she grew nervous and uncomfortable.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry," she started but Amanda cut her off. "Yeah yeah, I get it, you're sorry for being such an awkward friend, yada yada yada. I don't care, just come here and I'll help you get ready." After settling on a white silk tank tucked into a black mini skirt, Amanda quickly helped tame Hailey's shoulder length blond waves by pinning one side of it back. Throw in some mascara and strappy nude stilettos that had lain forgotten in the back of her closet and Hailey decided she looked pretty decent. She threw her phone in her purse and headed out the door but before they got to the car Amanda said "Wait, hold on a second." She silently pulled out some red lipstick from her purse. Hailey almost ran back into the apartment but decided she owed her friend at least this for being so difficult and allowed her to carefully apply the smooth, crimson color to her mouth.

Amanda's blue eyes shown as she smiled from ear to ear. "Five minutes to get you ready. That's record time! I should quit my day job." She then hopped into the front seat. Hailey took a breath and slid into the back. She could sense this was going to be a long night.

_One hour later..._

Hailey now knew the true meaning of hell on earth. It meant being stuck in a bar with an oversexed, moronic firefighter while your best friend canoodled with her boyfriend in a different booth. Not even a whiskey on the rocks could make this guy appealing to her.

"So then, like, we all drew a bunch of dicks on this guy's face while he was passed out and then we peed on him. It was totally hil-aaaaa-rious."

If she had to listen to one more "hil-aaaaa-rious" age-old frat story from this guy's time at Gotham University she was going to vomit out of shear boredom. While she nodded and drained the rest of her drink, she decided to pull out her phone and play solitaire only to find that she had a missed phone call from Commissioner Gordon over in major crimes.

"Fuck, sorry I have to make a call," she said without even looking at the meathead next to her while she slid out of the booth.

"Oh yeah, totally, no worries. When you get back I'll tell you about when we streaked across the football field!" She inwardly blanched as she dialed Gordon back. But as she put the phone to her ear the call went straight to a dial tone. _"That's weird..." _she thought. It was rare for Gordon to let his phone ring more than once let alone turn it off. Before she could think too hard about it she got a call from the major crimes unit secretary.

"Hailey? This is Patty from MCU. There's been a situation on 17th and Leland. A seedy bar called The Boilermaker. They found the missing congressman. He's alive but there's a couple of bodies we need looked at. How soon can you get over there? I know this is your night off, but I still thought I'd call. If you can't make it I understand."

_"Hallelujah!" _She realized this was her out and she wasn't about to pass it up. "No worries Patty I'm not busy at all! I'll catch a cab and be there in ten!" She practically giggled her response into the phone she was so happy. After saying goodbye to a disgruntled Amanda, she left without sparing a glance at her evening's "date."

It may have been nearing midnight, but it wasn't until Hailey tipped the cabby and walked through the flashing blue and red lights that she felt her night had truly begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Definitely forgot to write this before posting the first chapter - **I do not own Batman or anything in the "Nolan Universe."** The original characters however are my own, so feel free to blame me 100% for their awkwardness and/or immature nature :) This message applies to the first chapter as well as all subsequent chapters!

Okay well now that that's done thanks so much to everyone who decided to follow this. A special thank you to the ones who reviewed after only one chapter! Words of encouragement are always appreciated. The story will hopefully pick up a little more now and will enter TDKR time frame so **SPOILER ALERT.**

After pushing through the crowd of uniforms and web of caution tape, Hailey finally reached the location of the shoot out. A Gotham City police officer guarded the door and gave her a strange look as she approached him.

"Miss, I don't know if you noticed but the bar is closed so you'll have to take the party elsewhere."

At first she was confused at why he was speaking to her like this, then she realized she was still wearing her ridiculous "date" getup from earlier that evening.

She smiled and gave a short laugh. To think she would ever go to a shithole of a bar like this one was not only comical, but slightly offensive. "Oh! Sorry, I don't usually dress like this for work. I got called in last minute. My name is Hailey Baffert, I'm with forensics. One second, let me get my badge." After awkwardly scraping the bottom of her clutch she regretfully concluded that the badge must still be at her apartment somewhere, most likely in one of her many non-slut bags she brought to work. She silently blamed Amanda and the half-bottle of pinot for putting her in this situation.

"Ummm, look Officer-" she quickly glanced at his badge, "Officer Ross. I'm gonna put myself and my job completely in your hands for two seconds and inform you that I totally forgot my badge. If you could please let me in, there are multiple people who can vouch for me. Commissioner Gordon himself was the one who originally called me, and I tried calling him back but it went straight to voicemail. He can tell you everything if you go find him-" she cut herself off when she noticed the officer's eyes harden during the middle of her plea. She started thinking about how this guy was gonna refuse to let her in, meaning she'd have to turn on loud bitch mode in order to draw attention to herself and scare him off and she really didn't want to have to do that because "loud bitch mode" didn't come naturally to her but before she could think any further he said something that completely shocked her.

"Don't worry Miss Baffert, I've never seen you but I've heard of your work with the force. You can go right in, but I feel like I should tell you first - Commissioner Gordon has disappeared following an explosion in the sewers. We're assessing the situation now, but that's about all I can tell you."

Hailey couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt like throwing up and it wasn't because of her moderate abuse of alcohol that evening. Gordon was more than just one of her bosses. He was a friend and a mentor to the young woman. She had steadily been climbing the ladder of success in her department and much of it was due to this man's constant support of her work and research for the last three years.

"When did this happen?" she asked, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

Ross twisted one side of his mouth in a sympathetic manner. "About twenty minutes ago," he replied.

She noticed Ross was clearly pitying her so she mentally placed her fears regarding Gordon on hold, neutralized the worry on her face, said 'thank you' and pushed by him. As she walked towards some of her colleagues she calmly gave herself an hour to analyze the scene and collect evidence. Then she'd devote herself completely to finding out where the hell Gordon was.

...

Hailey didn't think she'd ever been so hyper-focused in her life. After acquiring as many DNA samples as she could and making sure the crime scene photographer knew to fax the pictures of blood splatter arrangements and murder victims to her office first thing in the morning, she checked her watch. _Wow, only 45 minutes._ But her self-satisfaction was short lived. Her thoughts finally had time to mull over all the possible and dangerous situations Gordon could be in right now.

She stepped outside and found that Ross was still standing guard at the door. He glanced over at her.

"Finished already Baffert?" he said with a slight smile.

She gave a half-hearted attempt of her own but it only made her look sadder. "Actually yes." She paused for a second then gave into the worry that was beginning to consume her. "I was wondering if there was any news on Gordon before I call it a night?"

Ross saw the look of hope in her face and couldn't help but appreciate this woman's obvious reverence for the commissioner, who had lately been deemed as less of a hero and more of a wash-up.

"Sorry Miss, I haven't-" but before he could finish, his cell rang.

Hailey didn't need Ross to finish his sentence to know that he hadn't heard any new news. She began to walk away but grew curious as soon as she heard the officer's voice raise. She turned around and saw the man, finger in one ear, cell phone to the other, face struggling to hear whoever was on the other line.

"Wait, what?! Blake slow down! You're not making sense! Where are you, Niagra Falls?! I can't hear a word you're-" he then stopped talking and stood up a little straighter. His voice leveled out slightly as he said "Okay Blake, I got you. Where'd you find him? That bad? Okay, I'll let Foley know, you just get him to the hospital. Stay in touch will you?" When he hung up the phone Hailey was standing in front of him, hanging on every word he had said.

Ross knew she wouldn't let him leave without telling her everything, but he was running on borrowed time at this point. Begrudgingly, he sighed, "My car's right over there, hop in. But no crying or emotional lady crap okay! My partner and I are gonna have a lot of questions that need to be answered so I don't want you distracting Gordon until we're done."

Her eyes widened a little bit but she was too thankful to respond with anything but kind. She quickly saluted the officer and smiled, this time it was genuine. "Scout's honor, there will be no 'lady crap' on my end."

Ross told her to wait in the car while he made a couple of phone calls. After updating Foley on the situation, he called Blake again to see which hospital the commissioner was being sent to.

"Hey Ross, I'm in the ambulance right now. We're headed to Gotham General." Blake's voice was a little more sturdy than before, but his partner could still make out the frustrated tone through the phone.

"Alright, I'll head over right now. I'm warning you beforehand though, I'm coming with company so be on your best behavior." Ross silently thought about how he wouldn't hold his breath regarding that little request, but he still felt he had to say it.

"Who is it, Foley? He already called me a 'hothead' tonight so I think it's a little late for good behavior," Blake responded in irritation.

"Actually, it's Hailey Baffert, from forensics. She and Gordon seem tight so I figure it might help to bring her over. Might calm him down." Ross smirked and decided to mess with his hotheaded partner a little bit. "I'm doing this for you too you know."

Blake distractedly nodded his head and continued to check on Gordon while holding the phone to his shoulder. "Yeah, okay whatever. Just don't let her get in the way. Wait, what? What do you mean you're doing this for me? What the does that even mean?"

Ross's smirk spread further across his face as he walked to the driver's side of his and Blake's patrol car. "Nothing man, it's no big deal. It's just that she's pretty cute and I know you haven't conversed with an attractive woman since you were about sixteen so don't embarrass me okay? Consider it an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what?" Blake slowly ground out in-between his clenched jaw.

"An opportunity to finally lose your virginity!" Ross laughed and snapped his phone shut. He jumped in the car then turned on his lights and siren. He glanced over at a nervous Hailey. "Not to be insensitive or anything, but get ready for one hell of a ride lady!" And with that he pealed the car out into the dark streets of Gotham.

...

Blake was practically seething as he uselessly screamed back into the phone, "You know I'm not a virgin you fucking asshole!" before forcefully snapping it shut. Remembering he wasn't alone he looked up at the current scene in the ambulance. The vehicle had stopped moving and there was one EMT opening the back doors and two others on either side of Gordon's stretcher-all of them silently staring at the police officer.

Turning red Blake snapped "Want to take a picture or can we save the commissioner's life now?" With that the EMT's jokingly glanced at each other and got back to work.

Blake stumbled out of the ambulance, praying that the night air would cool his decidedly hot head.

Okay well that's it for chapter 2! I hope the story is picking up a little bit. Aren't you excited for Hailey and Blake to finally meet in chapter 3? In the next chapter I plan to try and delve a little more into her relationship with Gordon as well as what I meant when I mentioned her "research." Thank for sticking around!


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